Solid-State Batteries At Least a Decade Away From Mass Adoption

[Brian W + 78]

Although auto and tech companies are scrambling to develop new kinds of products slightly moving from gas-powered, human-operated vehicles to electric-powered, autonomous vehicles, one of their suppliers is taking a different approach. Panasonic, which makes infotainment systems for cars and batteries for EVs, among a wide range of other products, isn’t trying to reinvent itself, but to modify products it has previously made for new uses, said Tom Gebhardt, the company’s North American CEO. 

Gebhardt doesn't anticipate huge changes coming to infotainment systems in the next 5-10 years saying that battery industry, like the tech industry, likes to build anticipation for the next major technological breakthrough, even if it won’t be ready in the near future. He doesn’t see solid-state batteries reaching mass adoption in the auto industry during the next decade. Instead, lithium-ion batteries will achieve marginal improvements in capacity, charging speed, and safety.

http://www.technohanger.com/2018/11/panasonics-north-american-ceo-says.html  
 

 

[Adam Varga + 123]

There is no timeframe on when the solid-state batteries will be ready. There have been problems getting a chemistry production ready. Dyson bought solid-state startup Sakti3 a few years ago with an aim to use the tech in cars by 2020, but dumped it this year and it seems it will stick with lithium-ion. Toyota estimated a few years ago that they'd have the technology ready by the early 2020s, but they hit a snag too and it looks like it'll be some time later. 

[Vlad Kovalenko + 115]

All the Japanese companies, including Panasonic, have formed a joint effort to develop solid-state batteries with a plan to develop a solid-state battery that doubles the range of electric vehicles to 800 km by 2030 over the current 400 km. For the time being, it is targeting a more modest range of 550 km by 2025. So presumably the task of developing this battery was too difficult and costly for a single company to pull away with the lead.  

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-Trends/Japan-juices-efforts-for-new-electric-vehicle-battery 

[Brian W + 78]

Fisker was supposed to bring out the new EMotion in 2020 with solid state batteries. But these things always seem to be delayed. Two years doesn't seem like enough to scale a new technology up from working in the lab to being used in a production vehicle, even if it's low volume. Would be great if they managed it though. 

[BlackTortoise + 103]

Lithium ion batteries were invented in 1980 and it took until mid 90s when this tech saw widespread use. Battery development is slow. Dozens of competing solid state battery technologies are being explored but it will be at least 5 years before the science gets fleshed out. And another few years for manufacturing  to produce them. So 10 years is a good estimate.